The Madrid derby belongs to Atletico: a penalty is enough to beat Real

Taboo broken and three points with the flavor of Champions. The Madrid derby is tinged with rojiblanco after a fast of eight matches and Atletico mortgages fourth place in the standings, reaching +6 over Betis. At the Wanda Metropolitano, where the colchoneros win their first derby, a penalty from Carrasco decides at the end of the first half after the intervention of the Var. The Cholo team legitimizes the success with a great performance, an avalanche of wasted opportunities and a wood in the shot. Blancos insidious only in the last minutes, but Oblak thinks about it.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES

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Simeone arrives at the derby without Joao Felix, Hermoso and Lemar, but does not give up the surprise move by choosing Correa and Cunha to lead the attack, with Griezmann and Suarez initially on the bench. Ancelotti instead takes the opportunity to give minutes to those who have had less space so far and, at the same time, to rest the so-called essentials in view of the Champions League final. The Blancos thus present themselves with an unprecedented offensive trio (composed of Asensio, Rodrygo and Jovic) and an unusual defense (with Vallejo next to Militao and Nacho on the left), including the presence of Lunin between the posts. In all, seven changes between the owners for Ancelotti, in fact the difference is noticeable. It may also be because the Cholo gang takes the field with foaming at the mouth, the fact is that the Colchoneros monopolize the game by asphyxiating their rivals with a very high pressure and center of gravity.

VAR FRIEND

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Atletico began to take measures after a few minutes with a shot from distance by Kondogbia, then off to a sort of shooting with Correa (diagonal out of a nothing) and a possessed Carrasco that drives Lucas Vazquez crazy. The Belgian, in fact, breaks through at every initiative and shoots four times missing the target by nothing. The thrust of the Colchoneros is such as to prevent Madrid from leaving their own half, but the hosts tend to get lost in the last 15 meters. Yet, also thanks to the intervention of the Var, Cunha’s first thrust through central streets repays the rojiblancos for all the efforts: the referee grants the penalty for a ram from Vallejo on the Brazilian and Carrasco, by far the best in the field, he takes charge of signing the deserved advantage with a right that displaces Lunin.

shooting gallery

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Few signals instead from Madrid, enough to allow Oblak to go to rest with unpainted gloves. Atletico grants a respite to the guests at the beginning of the second half, lowering the pace for about ten minutes. Then, with an extra Griezmann in Correa’s place, he goes back to pushing to close the accounts. Three good chances built in sequence by Griezmann and Carrasco convince Ancelotti to call in fresh forces and the Blancos finally find the key to becoming dangerous thanks to Vinicius’ raids and Valverde’s right foot. In the meantime, it is still Atletico to devour the doubling with a left by Cunha from a privileged position, a turn by Griezmann out of a whisker and an attempt by Carrasco that is printed on the post crossing the goal line. The result in the balance and the last attacks of the Blancos force the Cholo gang to suffer until the end, also thanking Oblak’s reflexes on a Valverde fireball from distance and a free kick from Asensio.